RFU backing of Red Roses can aid better English pro structure August 21, 2025 So it begins. Red Roses vs USA at the Stadium of Light. Friday night, BBC 1. That’s a USA fielding the rugby player with by far the biggest social media following on the planet, Ilona Maher. You won’t find a hotter ticket this year than the Women’s Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham on 27 [...]
Premier League: Is football the closest sport to perfection? August 14, 2025 Football never seems to go away. Between international tournaments, transfer sagas and pre-season tours, the game hums year-round. But last weekend’s EFL fixtures and this weekend’s Premier League matches mark something more definitive: the start of the new English season. The return of tribal loyalties, tactical debates, and the weekly rhythm that defines so many [...]
If BBC battle change, is it time to abolish sport’s Crown Jewels? August 7, 2025 With change needed to ensure lesser followed sports get their time in the spotlight, is it time to abolish the Crown Jewels and ditch the BBC for some coverage? What I know about aquatics could be scribbled with a waterproof Sharpie on a pair of skimpy Speedos. I do know, though, that swimming is one [...]
Is director training the answer to football’s governance woes? July 31, 2025 A new study suggests reforming football governance by testing and training directors. But is the regulator capable, asks Ed Warner? Countless millions follow professional football in England, claiming allegiance to a favourite club whose fortunes are entwined daily with each individual’s emotions, their highs and lows in seemingly unavoidable synchronicity. Turns out these essential forces [...]
Fans and athletes both lose in sport’s endless entertainment loop July 24, 2025 New tournaments, expanding global championships, tours of dubious sporting merit and very little rest – isn’t it time we gave our athletes a break, asks Ed Warner? If only the world wasn’t spherical, maybe then we wouldn’t have lost the sporting seasons. As it is, summer bleeds from northern hemisphere to southern, which sends winter [...]
Hawk-Eye complaints at Wimbledon? You cannot be serious! July 10, 2025 Wimbledon’s Hawk-Eye controversies were human-made and technology’s role in refereeing sports will only grow, writes Ed Warner. In the chalk dust v Hawk-Eye battle there can only be one winner. Traditionalists may hanker after a Wimbledon of line judges, temper tantrums, smashed rackets and John McEnroe questioning the seriousness of the umpire but in tennis, [...]
Women’s sport needs to convert online fandom into ticket sales July 3, 2025 With England’s Euros defence getting underway on Saturday, how does women’s sport convert online fandom into ticket sales? Attendances down, TV viewing figures falling, but TikTok and Instagram metrics up. This is the current state of engagement with women’s professional sport in the United Kingdom. Phone surfing can be monetised, but there is an urgent [...]
Sports events must decide between purists and entertaining newbies June 26, 2025 With Britain in the height of its summer sporting season, Ed Warner debates how organisers must balance pleasing purists with enticing new fans. “Does anyone talk about The Season anymore? The social whirl of the Lord’s Test, Queen’s, Royal Ascot and then finally Wimbledon? I may have missed others…” I replied to this Sport inc. [...]
Grand Slam Track stumble shows odds stacked against sport’s disruptors June 19, 2025 Michael Johnson’s decision to scrap the last of his four Grand Slam Track events will have pained the wannabe disruptor who has been a persistent critic of the track and field establishment. It will be no comfort to the former superstar to learn that a new study of British broadcast trends shows increased viewing of [...]
Athletes on OnlyFans: It’s time for an adult conversation about funding June 5, 2025 Should athletes be allowed to boost their meagre Lottery funding by performing on OnlyFans, like British canoeist Kurts Adams Rozentals? It’s time for a grown-up discussion, says Ed Warner. How far would you go to fulfil your Olympic dream? Pre-dawn, pre-school training sessions; eschewing a student lifestyle to get a solid night’s sleep with no [...]
